When Marvel Tried To Make An Inhumans Movie 14 Years Ago

Bleeding Cool has been writing for some time about Marvel's move to prioritise The Inhumans as a major property in Marvel comics, with an eye toward creating a new movie franchise.

The comic book series Inhuman and the crossover event Inhumanity, spread the Inhumans – people with a lineage of alien DNA, and powers that emerge on contact with the Terrigen Mists – across the world.

This was an intentional act to create an alternative to the mutant population of the X-Men comic books. Marvel cannot make films or TV shows of the X-Men properties, as the rights were bought by Fox during Marvel's term in bankruptcy, as were the rights to the Fantastic Four.

But they can make films starring The Inhumans, Or at least, they can now…

But in the year 2000, they couldn't. Dave Elliott tells me that he was involved with ex-Marvel movie mogul Avi Arad when he tried selling an Inhumans movie to Paramount, based on the Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee Eisner award-winning Marvel Knights series. But when Paramount didn't like that, Elliott pitched the Neal Adams/Jack Kirby plot about Black Bolt coming to New York, as the backbone of the film.

Mike Mignola was going to do some of the redesigns, there was an animated spinoff planned, the film was financed, director attached and contracts signed. Elliott says he told folks to check their license contracts but Avi Arad told him they didn't need to.

Paramount wanted to buy it, but when Marvel eventually did check their contracts, they found that Fox had the rights to use the Inhumans in films since their first appearance was in The Fantastic Four.

Marvel even offered the project to Fox, as it was fully funded, but Fox said no.

Well, just as there proved some wiggle room with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, so Marvel Studios believe they have similar wiggle room now.

It may need a namechange to Nuhmans, and they may need to use all the new characters they have been creating recently across the world, rather than Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, Lockjaw and others from the original appearances.